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Vomiting hell - "hospitals can't cope"

HEALTH chiefs say they cannot cope with another winter like this one after a virulent vomiting bug caused havoc in hospital wards.

The full impact of the winter diarrhoea and vomiting bug norovirus on the Alexandra Hospital, as well as the Worcester Royal and Kidderminster Hospital, was laid bare at a meeting of NHS chiefs at Southcrest Manor Hotel in Redditch last week.

Harry Turner, chairman of Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “It’s clear we can’t go through this again next winter.”

At the height of the outbreak in November, which saw three wards closed at the Alex, 166 beds were closed across the trust’s hospitals.

Of these 166 beds, 40 were empty because the highly infectious bug meant no new patients could be transferred to any wards where patients had the symptoms.

Patients on these wards also could not be sent home or into nursing homes or community hospitals such as the Princess of Wales in Bromsgrove because of the risk of spreading the infection.

This created ‘frozen’ wards preventing existing patients being discharged or new ones being admitted.

This in turn heaped pressure on A&E departments, making it more difficult to transfer patients to these blocked beds.

However, despite the extra demand (10 per cent above this time last year) the trust has hit many of its other key targets, including the 18 week GP referral to treatment targets for both admitted and non-admitted patients.

Comments (1)

Is it possible for someone with medical qualifications and experience (in the hospitals mentioned) to confirm that it is really 'a vomiting hell'? Or is this the usual panic-panic-shock-ho
rror headline? Just curious that's all. I'm not making light of it, I know it's a serious thing to happen in a hospital, but the impression given is that people's heads are spinning round while projectile vomiting (I know that's in a horror film, can't remember the name of it).

Is it possible for someone with medical qualifications and experience (in the hospitals mentioned) to confirm that it is really 'a vomiting hell'? Or is this the usual panic-panic-shock-ho
rror headline? Just curious that's all. I'm not making light of it, I know it's a serious thing to happen in a hospital, but the impression given is that people's heads are spinning round while projectile vomiting (I know that's in a horror film, can't remember the name of it).CJH